MATERIAL FOR EXAM #1, FROM TEXT:
Chapter 1 all
Chapter 2 skim historical material
Chapter 3 all
Chapter 4 all
Chapter 7 all
Chapter 8 all
Chapter 9 all
KNOW FACTS ABOUT OUR SOLAR SYSTEM!
For example: age, size, density, composition, relative distances
Also: processes; characteristics planet surfaces, atmospheres
Also about space missions, data returned, how ideas changed
FORMAT OF THE EXAM:
NO multiple choice.
Will have fill-ins, short answers, short essays, a few longer essays, drawings.
Also, there will be problems with computations required. (BRING YOUR CALCULATOR)
Advice: Do not write to excess, answer the questions clearly and concisely.
More advice: If you're uncertain about what a question means - ask!
We can clarify what's being asked.
EXAMPLES of some possible questions for Exam #1:
Terrestrial planets (20 points total for this question)
a) Define the term "terrestrial bodies" as applied to our solar system.
b) Name the terrestrial bodies, giving approximate relative sizes.
c) Why are Venus and Earth called 'twins'? Compare Earth's tectonics with that of its sister planet.
d) When did the Apollo missions take place? What was learned from them about the Moon? Why were they undertaken with such vigor?
e) What are the three mechanisms of heat production in planets? Give an example of each and sketch each. Ditto, with heat transport.
f) What processes shape the surfaces of planets? For each terrestrial body cite the primary activity - if there is a major one - or several that have shaped its surface.
Planets and Geological Time (20 points total for this question)
a) What is the current estimate for the age of the solar system? How is it determined?
b) How old is the oldest rock on Earth found to date? Where was it found? Why does this differ from the estimate above? How does this compare with the surfaces of Venus or the Moon?
c) Radioactive Uranium 238 decays to what daughter product? With a half life of 4.5 b.y., how long until only 25% remains of the original radioactive parent?
d) Assuming Uranium and all other radioactive isotopes decayed 100 times faster, what would have been the result for the terrestial planets? Would these isotopes prove useful for dating rocks?
e) How does Earth's age of the ocean floor compare with the continents? What is the oldest? The youngest ocean floor? Why the discrepancy? How does this compare with Venus' surface?